On Which Type Of Diabetes Metabolic Surgery Work On

Hi!

This is Dr. Tulip. I am a Bariatric and Laparoscopic Surgeon practicing at Dr. Tulip Hospital, 4th block, Koramangala.

We all know that once a diabetic , always a diabetic. But now we have something called as metabolic surgery by which one can be totally free from Diabetes. I mean you can stop your diabetic medications and still your sugar can be in normal limits. You don't need to take any oral diabetic medications and you need not take any insulin. But is this surgery helpful for all types of diabetics? No, we need to be a little careful and a little choosy about this. This surgery is good for, it helps Type 2 diabetics.

Type 2 Diabetics are those people who develop diabetes after the age of 30. They don't have a family history like their parents, grandparents would have had diabetes but those people who develop diabetes in childhood or in their teens less than 30 years are most likely to be Type 1 diabetics wherein the body is not secreting any insulin, the pancreas is not having any insulin to secrete, wherein the surgery the metabolic surgery will not help. Now, is every type 2 diabetic eligible for this surgery? Yes , but we also need to see the amount of pancreatic reserve that is present in that patient. For example, if the patient is suffering from diabetes for 4 to 5 years, the reserve will be much better.

But if they're suffering from diabetes from 15 to 25 years, then the reserve will be a little less and hence the results may not be very good. But all said and done, the results will definitely better. Now, how do we check the pancreatic reserve? There is a blood test which is called as the C-peptide. When we assess this value, if it is more than one, that means the pancreas has a good reserve and the results would be very good. Now how early do we expect the person to be free from diabetes after the surgery?

Even as early as 24 hours after the surgery, the person can be free from diabetes. Now, in some cases where the pancreatic Reserve is not very good then the patient might have to take one tablet, one oral hypoglycemic, maybe for a month or two and then the person can get totally out of diabetes.